Assumptions of the Cruel
by Miss-Sweet-Factor
Summary: The Hidden Leaf Village has been taken over by a new power. Caught and imprisoned and presumed dead by her comrades, Sakura must escape her torture and find a way to help her village with help from a traitor.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Power**

**I do not own Naruto.**

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**Sakura P.O.V.**

It was suffocating.

The darkness engulfed my every being, day and night. This cell corrupted my goodness and left nothing. Alone, surrounded by four walls was not where I expected to be at this very moment, but that was the price I paid for being on the right side.

She was dead.

He told me when they first brought me to this place. _Lord_ Danzo himself approached me.

"Tsunade is _dead_. I am the Hokage and you will obey me or I will wipe your existence from this earth."

I refused, and he beat me and left. I suppose by 'wiping my existence' he would have listed me as dead, after the attack.

He had to be lying. Shishou would never go down without a fight. She wouldn't let her people be controlled by a mad man. She wouldn't die.

Control, that was how he did it. A coup could never have succeeded without control and precision at the right time. It happened over two weeks ago. Well, from what I can say, it was two weeks ago. With no natural lighting it's hard to keep track of time. I was reporting back from a mission to Tsunade at the time when the explosions happened. There was a bang, and the top floor of the tower exploded. I was stunned by the blast and incapacitated by ROOT. I didn't see what happened to Shishou, there was too much debris.

_'I hope no one died.'_

Ah, the voice. Two weeks in a solitary cell with no human contact and all I here is a voice inside my head. A voice that's help was no longer needed. Inner Sakura died years ago. At least I thought she disappeared from my mind, years ago.

_'You should be more appreciative. You'd be insane by now if it wasn't for me.'_

"I'd rather be insane than have to listen to you constantly."

_'Aw, that's harsh. You being emotionless is one thing but having to listen to you brood and do nothing about your situation is aggravating.'_

"How do you suppose I get out of my situation then?"

Silence was the only response. I suppose it really was all in my head. I could barely move as it was, let alone stand. There was no way I was getting out of here. I wasn't fed enough to keep my energy up and I was locked in a cell meant to drain chakra. So attacking was out of the question. And the door only opened when I was fed or if I was going to be dragged to an interrogation room.

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._

Someone was approaching my cell. Light steps meaning a trained ninja. Probably a ROOT agent.

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Fwmp._

They stopped right outside my cell. I could hear whoever it was fiddling with the lock. As far as I know, these types of cells were nothing to mess with, they were almost impossible to break out of. Chakra circulated throughout the walls at a constant flow and sucked out anything with chakra near it. It was the perfect prison for a shinobi. And I had already failed at escaping.

The door made a clunking sound and creaked open. The light poured in, blinding me in the process. As my eyes adjusted a voice spoke.

"Get up, kunoichi," said the silhouette standing in the door way.

_'Are you kidding me? What an ass. Maybe he should come in here and make us!'_

"I can't. My body is too weak to support itself," I replied in a raspy dehydrated voice, a plan formulating in my head from Inner's words.

"Fine," said the ROOT agent. He walked toward me and bent down to; well I suppose his plan was to carry me.

As he reached down, I prepared my attack and paralysed him from the neck down. Oh medical knowledge, I owe you so much. I leaned over him and opened his tool pouch. I found what I was searching for.

_'Of course they carry soldier pills. Robots need some type of fuel to keep operating.'_

I swallowed one of the pills and pocketed the rest. After a minute I felt my strength return. This cell was still draining my chakra however.

I stood up and dragged the ROOT agents' paralysed body from the room. Outside my cell was a dim lit hall, lined with more cells like mine. I leaned the man's body against the cold stone wall.

I bent down and asked, "What were you retrieving me for? Interrogation?"

He just stared at me with a blank expression. It was useless to ask initially. ROOT is trained to not divulge secrets.

_'Throw him in your cell and see how he feels.'_

That wasn't a bad idea, and it might give me a head a start on escaping. So I threw his stiff body into the cell and closed the door.

I made my way down the dark hall and came to set of stairs leading up. Listening to make sure there weren't any more guards, I crept up the stairs. When I reached the top, it appeared that I had reached the base of the prison.

With my chakra slowing returning, I could sense there were no other guards around, which was odd. Usually you would think there would be more than one on patrol.

_'Something's up Sakura be on the alert.'_

I noticed a steel door across the room, and ran towards it. Grabbing the handle I slowly twisted the knob, and pushed open the door. On the other side there was another hall filled with prison cells, but at the end another door. Again, no guards.

_'Why aren't there any other prisoners? We can't be the only one…'_

It was extremely odd, I couldn't sense anyone else in the building and I was getting more worried by the minute.

I ran down the next hall and quickly opened the metal door. My vision filled with white light and it took me a few moments to adjust to the brightness and take in my surroundings.

Forest, trees, road, cliff. I was at the Leaf's North Prison. Not surprising considering it was the only prison that could hold someone of my strength.

_'Don't be egotistical and do you hear that Sakura? It sounds like people.'_

The sound my mind seemed to have heard was coming from below the cliff. I ran to the edge and bent down to get a better look.

"Oh Kami…" I said to myself.

At the bottom of the cliff, a mass of people were gathered. It could nearly be half the village's population. They were all gathered around a platform shouting angrily or cheering at the person standing on it.

As I narrowed my vision I saw the culprit, in the middle of the ruckus. Danzo, the bastard, what on earth are you up to?

A pile of bodies lay behind the platform and blood splattered the flooring. It suddenly all made sense. Why there was only one guard at the prison, and why there were no prisoners in their cells.

_'Holy shit, Danzo's executing prisoners!' _

And I was supposed to be next.

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Read & Review! If you have any feedback please mention it!

~Sweet 3


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Strength**

What on earth had happened in two weeks? How many people had Danzo murdered in the name of justice?

With Tsunade no longer in power, Danzo must be taking initiative. But slaughtering prisoners? That was just insane.

_'Sakura, look out!'_

I sensed three chakra signatures appear behind me. They had snuck up on me while I was busy gawking at insanity. I slowly stood up, keeping my back facing towards my opponents.

Wait a second, I recognise that chakra signature…

"Don't even think about running, Hag, it won't do you any good."

Hag? Only one person called me that.

"I am too shocked and injured to do anything of the sort, Sai," I said turning around and facing him and two other ROOT agents. I stared him straight in the eye, not even bothering to glance at the others.

_'I don't think we're getting out of this situation any time soon. Sai knows what you can do.'_

"Put your hands above your head and don't move," the shortest of the three Root said.

"Hai, hai, there's no funny business going on here, but perhaps you should try down there," I said slyly while pointing towards Danzo and the crowd. I obeyed their orders and place my hands above my head.

The shortest ROOT agent walked behind me and brought my hands together and bound them with chakra infused cuffs.

Deciding whether or not to go with them was tough. If I resisted they most likely would have gave chase and I would have been caught. By going _obediently _with them, I might be able to see what was going on, and who was still alive.

"So Sai, it seems you've stooped to the lowest of the low. Are you Danzo's bitch now? Or were you part of the coup?"

_'Oh yeah, that's smart, make him angry!'_

Sai didn't even give me a second glance. He grabbed my arm and we began walking, well I suppose he was dragging me, to the rickety old elevator that would take us to the bottom of cliff.

"Taking me to meet the new Hokage? I thought you preferred Tsunade, but these days I hear she's dead," I said as acidly as I could, trying to get a reaction from him.

"Yes, and perhaps you're correct. No one knows what happened to her," he said with a blank expression. His voice didn't give anything away.

I wasn't expecting that response. So no one knew what had happened to Tsunade?

_'Maybe she escaped before they could kill her?'_

But then where was she now?

Sai stepped onto the elevator's platform, dragging me with him. The other two ROOT agents began to operate the elevator's system, and stayed on the cliff. There was a clunking sound then started we were slowly moving down the side of the cliff.

I turned and faced Sai, now that we were alone it was time to find out what really happened.

"Sai, what's really going on? Is Tsunade alive? What about the others? Did anyone else die?"

He just stared at me, getting a lost look on his face, then all of a sudden, engulfed me in a hug.

"We thought you were dead," he whispered in my ear. I was stunned by the hug and by what he said. So I _was_ presumed dead.

"B-but what else? What has been happening?" I desperately muttered out. He stopped the hug and took a step back, his face showing his familiar fake smile, then back to the blank stare.

"Danzo has completely taken over the village. He has enforced rules that every Leaf citizen must obey. There is a curfew in place for 7pm to 7am," he paused looking at me warily, "Danzo has gathered the highest security prisoners in the Hidden Leaf and is executing them in front of the villagers to send a message," The elevator made a another loud clunking sound.

"They're going to kill you, Sakura."

. . .

_'Well, shit.'_

"What is he trying to prove?" I asked, keeping my face expressionless. I didn't want to worry Sai by letting him know I was scared. If I was going to die, I was going to be brave about it.

"On the day of the attack, shinobi fought back, some were killed, incapacitated, captured, but others went into hiding. I can't say who-" he paused, opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue while pointing at the seal that was branded on it, "-but I can say it's people we can trust."

I didn't have time to ask him any more questions as the elevator reach the bottom of the cliff with an almighty jolt. Sai held my arm forcefully once again and walked me towards the large mass of people gathered around Danzo.

As we grew closer people began shouting and screaming towards us, towards me.

"TRAITOR!"

"You abandoned us!"

"Where were you when we needed you!"

"…All your fault!"

I didn't realise until I tripped on it, but Sai was pulling me up the steps of Danzo's 'stage'.

"This is how it has been Sakura. People are scared, panicked and losing control," he said, I could hardly hear him over the shouting. I didn't know what to think.

_'This is more than losing control, this is madness.'_

"I'm so sorry, Sakura," was the last thing I heard, before hands grabbed my arms and forced towards the centre of the platform. I was forced onto my knees, with my hands still bound behind my back.

There was a loud bang. Then silence, no one was shouting anymore.

"Sakura Haruno," a loud voice boomed across the crowd, "You are here before us today to stand judgement for your crimes against the Hidden Leaf Village."

"NO! Sakura!" I heard a voice scream from the crowd. I looked up and searched for the pleading voice.

Ino.

She was standing in the middle of the crowd, crying, with a horrified face, next to her, stood Shikamaru, with the same face.

"Stop! Please! She's done nothing wrong. Please! Just let her go…" Ino screamed through the looked about ready to run and save me, but Shikamaru held her close, which I was glad for. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt, especially Ino.

"Silence!" shouted Danzo, and then he looked me directly in the eye. "Sakura Haruno, your crimes as are listed; betrayal of the Leaf village, consorting against your current Hokage, and murdering the Fifth Hokage, Princess Tsunade Senju,"

Did I just hear that? Did he really just…?

I lost all control. How dare he… how dare he blame me!

"No!" I shouted maniacally, "How dare you blame me for your crimes, for killing Tsunade! That was you, that was all you! TRAITOR!" I screamed the last word. "You killed her! ROOT may have murdered her but you may as well have done it with your own hands, you filthy cowar-"I was interrupted by a rough kick to the jaw.

My body flew to the left and I slammed into the platform's flooring. My mouth filled with a familiar metallic tasting liquid and I slowly looked up at my attacker.

"How dare you speak to me with such lies, you traitorous fool!" Danzo shouted down at me. Then he turned to the silent crowd and spoke, "This is what, we, as a village must fight against! This _resistance_ is holding us back, we must eradicate them in order to win!" Then Danzo looked back down at me with a disgusted glare.

With mouth still filled with blood, I spat at his feet. I would never obey this untruthful murderer! I would rather die.

_'I think that was what he was counting on.'_

The crowd let out a gasp as they saw me show him such disrespect.

"I will never bow down to you," I said in a raspy voice. Glaring at him with hatred was all I could do. These restraints stopped me from ripping out his throat.

"Hold her still," he ordered the ROOT agents. He turned to the crowd once more, "As punishment for her crimes, Sakura Haruno, is sentenced to death."

"No!" I heard Ino cry. I couldn't look at her. The pain she was feeling, would be much greater than mine.

Death seemed peaceful to me. But if I died, how could I accomplish my goals? Naruto would be so disappointed, I promised him we would bring Sasuke back to the village together, that we would reunite and become team seven once again. Oh Sasuke, why did I ever let you go? The one man I ever truly loved and I let you slip through my fingers.

Not to mention, how could I avenge Tsunade from the grave? Danzo deserves to die yet I can't do anything about it.

I'm such a failure. When they say your life flashes before you die, I think whoever said such stupid words were lying. All you feel is guilt. Pain. And you remember every single decision you ever made.

"Do it," Danzo ordered the ROOT agent to my left. The man pulled out a kunai, and held my head back, and placed it against my throat. Then he looked to Danzo for the final order, who gave a nod.

I looked into the crowd searching for a face that I knew wouldn't be there, and then I felt a painful sting against my neck and saw the world in front of me fade into darkness.

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Oh no! My poor baby was killed! I wonder who she was searching the crowd for? And poor Ino, I really should have been nicer but I love it when characters feel emotions :) New chapter soon guys. But just think, if you review, it would motivate me to write more!

Please, Read & Review! Any feedback would be wonderful!

THIS IS NOT THE END!

-Sweet


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Death**

**Sakura P.O.V.**

Ino's screams faded away into silence. It was cold and dark. Like a void filled with nothingness.

I felt a sense of déjà vu. Once again I was surrounded by the thing I feared most. I was alone. Perhaps this sort of setting was a curse for someone like me? Death and darkness followed the life of a shinobi, so I suppose it was.

Is this where shinobi are sent when they die? This void of darkness was to be where I live out the after-life?

What have I done to deserve this? I've done nothing but help people, and dedicate my life to saving them.

_You've killed people. You've murdered them in cold blood._

_No matter how many lives you've saved, you've taken just as many._

No.

That's not fair.

I was protecting my village.

I was doing everything I could to protect the village. It's always been about the village.

Always.

_Shinobi do not understand what they do to the world. If a shinobi does all he can to protect his own village, he will unintentionally inflict damage on another. He will hurt the innocent and the guilty to protect the one thing he dedicates his life too._

It's not fair.

_A ninja's life isn't meant to be fair._

IT SHOULDN'T MATTER.

_Then what will you do to change that? Death has consumed you. Your own village slaughtered you. What can you do now?_

I can fight it! I won't die! I need to protect everything I've lived for!

Suddenly the void filled with a bright light consuming the darkness and erasing all that had happened.

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I awoke with a start. Well not as much as a start, but with uncontrollable breathing and the urge to puke my guts out, which I then did. What the hell was that disgusting smell?

I looked around myself and nearly retched again. I remember now… the pile of the prisoners remains, but there was something different about them. They were all burnt to char.

I got up as quickly as I could to get away from the stench of burnt flesh. What the hell was going on?

My breath quickened as I began to hyperventilate. I reached a hand up to my neck to confirm my situation. A thick scar was all that was left of the wound that had… killed me?

It suddenly hit me. I had died, but I barely remember a thing. It felt like a hazy dream.

I brought my hand away from my neck, with it, flakes of dried blood. So it really happened. Yet I survived when _they_ burnt the corpses? How? How did this happen?

I looked around and saw the area deserted. It was night time and the moon was high. How long had I been dead?

_'Sakura?'_

A feeling of relief washed over me. I was not alone. "Inner! I am glad to hear your voice. Do you know what happened?"

_'No clue Baka-chan.'_

Hmmm. Whatever happened apparently affected Inner also. Wait, what am I saying? She's just a voice in my head, nothing affected her!

_'Whatever you say, just remember the voice in your head has feelings too.'_

I sighed loudly. What do I do now? My feet eventually started making their way towards the streets of the village, before doing so I cast a henge. If I was believed dead then I should not go walking around as Sakura Haruno. Instead an old civilian lady should do it.

This elderly civilian made her way through the streets of Konoha to her apartment, and went through the bedroom window.

I released the henge and headed straight for the bathroom, stripped off my rags that were considered clothes and turned on the shower. The warm water felt refreshing after nearly three weeks in prison then being executed. But what would I do now? How would I live if I was technically dead?

I sighed once again.

_'You could leave the village. Try to find the resistance group Sai mentioned?'_

"But I have no idea where they are. He didn't even say which direction they were." I mumbled quietly.

Looks like leaving the village would be the safest option.

I'd have to try and track down the resistance, which I imagine would be impossible. If Danzo can't find them, how could I?

Finished cleaning myself, I turned off the water and stepped out, wrapping a towel around my bruised and beaten body. I walked to the mirror above my basin.

I really do look like shit.

Dark circles surrounded my green, soulless eyes and my face and body were thin with deprived hunger. After being deprived of decent food for so long I somehow wasn't hungry. How odd. Instead of pondering on it, I tied my long pink hair into a pony tail and walked into my bedroom.

Throwing on a second pair of my usual clothes, I grabbed my backpack and began packing extra clothing, tools and weapons, and medical supplies. Once finished, I gathered my most important belongings and sealed them into a scroll, packing that as well. I gave a glance to my comfortable looking bed, but decided against sleeping, I for whatever reason was not tired. Quite the opposite, I felt filled with energy.

I jumped out my window and onto the closets rooftop, hidden by my black travelling cloak.

* * *

The patrolling ROOT shinobi were difficult to evade. It seems Sai was right that Danzo had enforced curfew within the village. Yet it was worse than that. There were just too many ninja patrolling for a simple curfew.

_'Danzo is emphasising his control with man power. What a coward.'_

I managed to make it through a change in shift near the village boundary, scarcely making it without notice.

I began running as fast as I could south-west. If the village was indeed completely corrupt, resistance would have headed to Konoha's closest ally. Sunagakure.

_'Let's just hope Gaara knows something.'_

"From what Tsunade use to tell me, Gaara and her kept in contact with monthly letters, each detailing the situation of their village, shinobi and supplies."

_'Then we need to make it to Suna without hassle and as fast as possible. If Danzo is trying to keep the situation in Konoha contained then he probably sent patrols to keep an eye out for Leaf shinobi.'_

If Inner was right, then Danzo's patrols would most likely be near the border of River and Leaf.

I channelled a large amount of chakra towards my feet and increased speed. I needed to hurry.

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**Gaara P.O.V. Three Days Later**

Too much paper work.

That was the main problem for a Kage like me. Shouldn't there be other people to deal with this kind of thing? Of course not. I let out a loud sigh.

My brief moment of peace and quiet was interrupted by a quick knock on the office door.

"Enter," I responded in a dead voice.

The doors flew open as a man face full of purple paint barged in, my dear brother, Kankuro. "Gaara! Someone attempted to enter at the main gate. From what the guards relayed to me it was a young Leaf kunoichi who was badly injured. They've taken her to the hospital and she's in pretty bad shape. But there's one more thing…" he trailed off, avoiding my eyes for a second.

"What is it?"

"They think it could be Sakura Haruno."

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**Sorry I didnt have time to spell check! BUT NEW CHAPTER AFTER SO LONG! IM SORRY FORGIVE ME :3 R&R**

**~Sweet**


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